You're Home
by Goofy-of-the-Trinity
Summary: Kairi reflects on how Sora left her. She remembers every detail of how she felt and how he returned to her. AU, originally an essay for my summer school English course. SoraxKairi.


This was originally a narrative essay submitted for my English course. I edited some of the errors I found and decided to post it here. It's AU, the magical aspect of KH taken out (I know, I betrayed the fandom slightly, but it was for school in all fairness). I know it's short, but we had a word limit. Anyway, enjoy.

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"Kairi… I'll come back to you, I promise!" These were Sora's last words to me before he left. I knew it to be true, he was my first and closest friend here, and he never broke promises.

"I know you will." My reply was slightly shaky, the lump in my throat made it difficult to talk.

His hands were holding mine as if his life depended on it. Little did he know that this connection we had was a lifeline for me as well. He was my closest friend, he (unbeknownst to him) was my first love; he was my support when I was weak, and now the support was being pulled from under me, leaving me unstable. His family was moving from our small island home in search of greater opportunities. They were going to be constantly on the move, leaving no definitive way of reaching Sora.

Behind us, the family's old van roared to life, with almost everything inside, the rest of his family and all their worldly possessions. It was time to go, his parents were calling to him. Without another word, he reluctantly released my hands and trudged towards the van.

After sitting in his usual seat in the back, Sora turned to face me, looking out the rear windshield. His sad, sapphire eyes were almost unbearable to look at, but I didn't dare look away. As the van started to pull away, Sora waved goodbye. I returned his wave, wishing he could hear my pleas for him to hurry back. I stood there; watching helplessly as the vehicle with my life in the backseat became a speck in the distance, then vanished all together.

This was the beginning of the most painful years of my life. When Sora left, we were both fourteen. I felt that his leaving was slightly ironic, I never guessed he would be the first person I would have to say goodbye to, considering he was the first friend I made when I moved here.

My life went on without him, but barely. Luckily for me, our shared childhood friend, Riku, was still here, and he and I became closer. We helped each other as much as we could. Looking back now, even though I missed Sora, I was grateful for the opportunity to get closer to Riku.

Three years later, Sora still had not come back, not even to visit. Neither Riku nor I had heard anything from him. Sora only came to me when I slept, in my dreams. I had almost forgotten what his voice sounded like, but I grasped onto the one last thing he said to me before he left.

"_I'll come back to you, I promise!"_

I was bored one night, and decided it was as good a time as any to clean out my room. During my cleaning, I found my old keepsake box, which I hadn't seen since a year or two before Sora left. Inside it were some shells that the three of us had found along the beach, but the one item that stood out was a piece of rolled paper. I unrolled it, read it, and smiled as I realized what it was.

It was a special letter from out childhood. We were about eight when it was written. Riku, Sora and I were all talking about what happened if we ever got lost or one of us got separated. I came up with the idea for this letter and wrote it, saying that if one of us left, that we would find a way to send it out for the other to find.

Looking back, what I did next was probably my last resort, having missed Sora, the person who meant the world to me, for so long. However, at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. The next morning, I took that letter, along with a bottle down to the beach. Sealing the letter inside the bottle, I sent it out to sea. I stood there, watching it float away, then rushed off as I realized I was late for school.

A few months later, I was sitting in my favorite tree, relaxing. Riku had to go home right away to finish homework, so I was alone. This tree was special; it had fascinated Sora, Riku and I since it grew sideways out of the sand. I was sitting, thinking about nothing in particular, when I heard the sound of rushed footsteps approaching. I turned to see who it was, but before I got a good look, whoever it was fell and tumbled in my direction until the tree trunk stopped him. It didn't take me more than that for me to realize who it was. I only knew one person that clumsy.

"Sora?"

The boy groaned in pain, then righted himself to his knees and looked up at me. He had matured, and there were a few differences in his appearance, but there was no mistaking this was my Sora. As I sat there, speechless and unable to move, I saw him clutching something in his hand. It was my letter, somehow he had gotten it and now he was back.

"I-I'm back." He looked up at me, his smile as bright as I remembered it. I jumped down from my place on the tree, and held my hand to help him up. Before he took it, I smiled and replied.

"You're home."


End file.
